


Want

by madamebomb



Series: One Night Series [3]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Zuki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-11
Updated: 2016-01-11
Packaged: 2018-05-13 04:37:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5695075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madamebomb/pseuds/madamebomb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reuniting on the eve of their month's long journey together through the Fire Nation, Zuko and Suki both quickly realize that their friendship might turn into something else.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Want

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a loooooooooong time ago, intending on it being the first part of “The Queen of Beauty”, but decided that I wasn't happy with it. This scene is, however, referenced in that fic and in “Confession” as well. I reread what I had written the other day and decided to post it because why not? Chronologically it fits into the One Night Series between “One Night in Ba Sing Se” and “The Queen of Beauty”.

“I think that's her ship!” Zuko said excitedly, glancing at his secretary, who looked up from the itinerary clutched in his hands. The man looked miserable in the hot sun steaming down, his gold-rimmed glasses slipping to the end of his short nose, eyes squinting against the glare coming off of the crisp white paper, and sparkling on the heaving, azure-blue waters of the bay.

“Very good, sir. Right on schedule,” his secretary said and then bent back over the paper. Zuko turned away from him, his gaze on the gleaming iron ship chugging towards the docks, sending out plumes of gray smoke into the brilliant blue sky.

He felt a strange nervousness in his stomach as he watched the ship, a restless sort of excitement that filled him up and made him shift from foot to foot. He chewed on his bottom lip, squinting in the sunlight and trying to ignore the stares people were giving him from a distance. The seaport was bustling with merchants, workers, sailors, and a few shifty types, but they were all giving him a wide berth, no doubt motivated by the soldiers protectively flanking him on both sides.

It annoyed him, their presence. He'd wanted to greet her himself, without fanfare and without a contingent of armored soldiers planted firmly up his backside.

He ached for freedom, a chance to shed the pomp and protocol that came with being the Fire Lord, and just be Zuko. It had been too long since he'd felt that way. That was the whole reason for this adventure, after all, and the very reason he'd written to her, practically pleading with her to agree to come.

He hadn't been sure she would, despite the fact that he'd always counted her as a friend, long before she'd been his bodyguard. Still, things had changed for her in the past couple of years since she'd left his service and the Fire Nation altogether. He hadn't been sure she would want to come back. Or if seeing him would bring back memories she didn't want to relive.

However, she had answered his letter almost immediately, agreeing to come. He'd read over that letter many times since it had been delivered to him, scrutinizing it. For what, he wasn't sure. Yet, he kept reading it, over and over again. Now, standing here with the salty sea air lifting his dark hair out of his face, the sun browning his skin, unable to stand still, he watched her ship pulling into the port and felt oddly nervous to see her again.

But why?

“I'm still not sure about the length of your absence, Fire Lord Zuko,” his secretary spoke up beside him. “Four months seems a bit excessive. The Council--”

“The Council has my full authority to the run the Fire Nation in my absence and they've already agreed to this, so your argument is moot. I've taken care of everything. We are not in a crisis right now. The Nation is running smoothly and has been for over three years now. If I don't go on this vacation I'm going to end up snapping and burning the palace down,” Zuko said tiredly, but there was heat in his words. He'd had to fight tooth and nail to get his Council to back up this little adventure. He'd originally planned to travel alone, without guards, an itinerary, or really any plans but to hit the open road and see where it took him.

Needless to say, that had not sat well with his Council, and after countless hours of heated debate, he'd come to see their point. If a crisis came up, they would need to know where he was in order to inform him so he had agreed to setting up an itinerary for his travels. Then the issue of his security had come up.

His Council had not been willing to compromise on his safety, and a part of him understood that, but he'd made the case that traveling in a pack of guards would defeat the whole reason for the trip. He and his Council had finally come to a compromise on that.

If he were to go on this trip, he had to bring at least one trained bodyguard with him, someone both Zuko and the Council trusted with his safety.

The first name that had popped into his head had been hers.

That his Council had immediately agreed was a credit to her skill, and the lingering good will she had left behind her when she'd resigned her post just two years earlier.

Had it really been two years? It seemed so much longer to him. He was shocked at how much he'd missed her, but he shouldn't have been. She was one of his oldest friends, and they had always gotten along very well together.

Still, that didn't account for the nervous tremor in his hands or the way his eyes strained to pick out her shape on ship as it slowly made its way into the port.

“Very well, sire. You know best.”

Zuko glanced at his secretary, who was pursing his lips in thought, still studying the itinerary as if it might change at any moment if he didn't squint at it in distrust. The disapproval rolled off of the man, but Zuko ignored it. His secretary worried too much about the little details.

He rocked back on his heels and watched the ship loom larger and larger on the horizon as it pulled into the port. People had started milling about now, their interest now on the ship instead of the Fire Lord and his guards. Zuko could see people on the deck, sailors and passengers. Several people on the dock waved, and the gesture was returned by, presumably, people they knew on the ship.

Zuko's eyes narrowed in the harsh sunlight, trying to pick out her familiar shape on the deck, but could see no one he recognized. What if this wasn't her ship? What if she had changed her mind? What if something had happened to her?

Worry gnawed in his gut as he lightly tapped his fist on his thigh, feeling sweat trickling down his back from the punishing summer sun.

With agonizing slowness, the ship pulled alongside the dock. Anchors dropped, lead ropes were tossed and the sailors on the dock went about the business of lashing the ship to the moorings. The side hatch was opened minutes later, as the ships massive, smoke-belching engines went slowly cycled down. A gangway was extended to the dock and sailors came out to secure it.

Then the passengers started departing, in ones and twos and whole clusters of families. There were shouts from the people waiting on the docks for them. Cheerful reunions and hugs followed. Children laughed and giggled and there were a few tears and kisses as a dozen couples reunited.

Zuko kept his gaze on the hatch, ignoring all of the hustle and noise around him, waiting...his guts clenching tightly, his breath caught somewhere in his throat.

Slowly the stream of departing passengers thinned out, leaving Zuko to wonder if he'd been wrong. If she really hadn't come...

Then, like the sun bursting from the clouds, she appeared.

It was like an immediate punch to his guts. The air rushed out of him; he felt dizzy, his eyes dazzled as a hot flash went up the length of his spine. His mouth opened, a soft gasp leaving him as she searched the crowd for one heart-stopping moment.

Then her gaze landed on him, and the smile she flashed at him was radiant. He felt it all the way to his knocking knees, straight into his toes, and back then up into his groin, where everything was suddenly tight and aching. He swallowed, lifting an unsteady hand to wave at her. She returned the gesture, then shifted the bulging pack hanging from her shoulder a little higher and stepped down the gangway.

Zuko made his way toward the gangway, feeling entirely dumbstruck all of a sudden, his limbs ungainly.

He felt strange. His heart was soaring. His palms were sweating. He could almost smell her perfume from here, and was shocked to realize that he remembered the scent of it, even now. That he associated that scent with comfort and warmth and easy laughter.

_Suki._

The sun caught her hair, turning the brown strands copper red in streaks. Her hair was longer than he ever remembered seeing it, and it tumbled down her bare, sun-kissed shoulders, tousled by the sea air. It looked inviting, like soft sunsets and warm fires. The longer hair softened her, somehow.

She wasn't wearing her Kyoshi uniform, as he'd requested. Instead she was bare-faced, her blue eyes large and doe-like without the red paint rimming them. Her lips were soft and pink and pulled into that dazzling smile that sent tremors through his body.

She was dressed in red, and it suited her. At twenty-nine years old, she was still fit and firm, every muscle honed to perfection, and yet for all the evident strength of her body she was still undeniably, tantalizingly feminine. From the curve of her hip, to the dip of her bared navel, every inch of her set a fire in his spine.

His gaze took her in willingly, hungrily, dazedly. Had she always been so beautiful? So gut-wrenchingly, devastatingly gorgeous? How had he missed that? How had he never seen the truth? She had been in front of him every day for years... She had fought beside him, comforted him, cried on his shoulder and he had never truly _seen her._ Not like this.

Not in a way that made his whole body ache, his heart beating out of his chest in a mad rush. His whole being focused on her like she was the sun and he the fool who had dared to look at her too long.

Watching her come toward him, practically running down the gangway, her hair flying, he knew something in him had changed in an instant. And there would be no going back.

“Zuko!” she called with a laugh in her voice as he reached the end of the gangway.

“Suki!” he said around a thick tongue and his bounding heartbeat. “I'm so glad you made it!”

“Me too!” She reached the end of the gangway and threw her arms around him in a tight, friendly hug. He tried not to stiffen in her arms, but it was hard not to, especially when all of his instincts were screaming at him to fold her up in his arms and never let her go. He wanted to bury his face in her gleaming hair, and breathe her in.

Her perfume was just as he remembered it.

She pulled back and grinned up at him. “It's been too long. You look good.”

He swallowed, his gaze roving over her face. He found himself staring at her lips. “You look... You look b-beautiful.”

Suki's expression softened a little and her hands squeezed on his muscular, bare arms. His whole body seemed to focus on the touch of her hands. He felt like he was going to spontaneously combust. Her perfume tantalized his senses. “You're so sweet.”

Then she lifted up on her tiptoes and landed a chaste kiss on his cheek. He was too stunned to do anything but stare at her as she pulled back.

“I hope you haven't been waiting long?” she said, as if he wasn't about to fall at his knees in front of her.

“Not long.”

“Really? You're getting sun-burnt,” she said with a laugh and touched the tip of his nose.

He returned her grin, finding it entirely infectious. He scrunched his pink nose at her. “Then we should get out of the sun before my secretary decides I don't know how to take care of myself and has a fit.” He jerked his thumb back at the man in question. Suki followed the gesture and mischief danced in her eyes.

“Still giving you a hard time about the trip?”

“Only every five seconds. You must be hungry. There's a cafe nearby.”

“That'd be lovely, thank you,” she said and hefted her pack. He started and then reached for it. “No, no, I've got it.”

“Please, allow me,” he said rather stiffly, falling back on politeness to hide the nervous tremor running through him.As they walked toward the cafe, his guards and secretary falling into step behind them, he darted glances at her out of the corners of his eyes.

She smiled and caught his gaze, biting down on her lower lip for a moment. “What? You're staring at me.”

“Nothing,” he said quickly. “You just look... You look different. I like your hair like that.”

She lifted a hand to her hair and a shadow flitted across her gaze. “I needed a change. You look different too.”

“In a bad way?” he said quickly, and then hoped she hadn't caught the desperation in his voice. She laughed and looped her arm around his as they walked.

“Trust me, it's good,” she said warmly and he felt a buzzing beneath his skin. As he led her into the cafe, an indecently pleased little smile quirked his lips.

* * *

 

Ever the gentleman, Zuko pulled out her chair in the quaint little seaside cafe, and when she sat he pushed her up near the table. She felt herself flush a little. She'd forgotten how it was to be at the side of Royalty. Zuko might not stand on protocol when it was just the two of them, but in public he was a paragon of courtesy and manners.

“Thank you,” she said, chewing on the inside of her lip as she watched him pass her pack to one of his guardsmen, who had taken up positions around the cafe. Much to the interest of the other patrons who eyed the Fire Lord with open interest. Zuko seemed to ignore them, as he dropped into a chair across from her, looking strangely nervous as he met her gaze and then looked away. He grabbed the menu and shoved it beneath his nose.

It was an odd reaction, to be sure, but not as odd as the one she was having at being near him again. The moment she'd spotted him in the crowd, something strange had happened to her. It was like an explosion had gone off just behind her heart. She was having trouble breathing around the sensation.

The way he'd looked at her... It made her fingers tingle.

He seemed determined to hide behind his menu, so she took the opportunity to really study him. It had been two years since she'd last seen him, and somehow he'd gotten more handsome. He was intensely appealing, with his roguish scar, those honey-colored eyes and his long, straight hair flowing over his broad shoulders. He was still painfully shy and awkward though, in the way he glanced up at her, and stumbled over his words.

She had always found it endearing, that shyness, but now it did something to her. It filled her up with heat and an aching loneliness that echoed through her like a ghost. It surprised her. Shocked her, at how it reverberated through her, smashing against the sorrow and emptiness that had taken hold of her the last few months.

Ever since...

But she shoved those thoughts away with force. She wasn't going to dwell on all of that. That was half of the reason she'd agreed to come on this trip. She'd wanted to see Zuko again, but she'd also needed to get away from what had become her life. She _needed_ this more than she could ever tell Zuko.

She ducked her head and studied her menu, trying to ignore the ache inside of her, and the heat in her cheeks that had nothing to do with the sun she'd taken on the voyage from her home on Kyoshi Island. A waitress came and took their orders, then bustled away.

The awkward silence between them stretched a little as she tried to catch his eye again.

“You're being awfully quiet,” she said uncertainly. “You're not regretting asking me to come, are you?”

“What? No!” Zuko said, his brows rising, eyes popping. “I just, I was thinking.”

“About what?”

Zuko glanced at her furtively and then looked away. He cleared his throat. “Nevermind.”

“No, tell me!” she urged, leaning forward, her hand landing on his atop the table. She saw Zuko gulp and then his face went beet red.

“About...um...Sokka,” he said and then winced. She winced too, withdrawing her hand. She sat back in her chair, feeling the familiar drop in her stomach at the very thought of her ex-boyfriend. Zuko saw her reaction and cursed under his breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought that up. I was just wondering how you were doing since... You know, you guys broke up. That's all. I'm sorry.”

Suki ran her hands through her hair and thought a moment. “It's okay. I knew you'd be curious about all of that. Have you seen him recently?”

“Not since he told me you guys broke up. He came for a visit a few weeks after. For what it's worth, he seemed pretty broken up about it. I told him he was being an idiot.”

She snorted a little, crossing her arms over her chest. “Well, you're right about that.”

“Have you seen him since?”

“No,” she said, and then stopped herself, thinking back to that afternoon a few weeks ago, when she'd been so sure she'd spotted him lurking outside of the training center. He'd disappeared before she could be sure though. Maybe she'd imagined it. “No, he's stayed away. It's not like the other times we broke up. This one feels...”

“Permanent?” he offered gently.

“Yeah,” she said and grimaced.

“But how are _you_ doing?”

She met his gaze and there was genuine sincerity there. It touched her. After the breakup she'd been so sure that all of her friends would abandon her in favor of Sokka. They'd known Sokka longer, after all, and she'd been the one to break things off. She'd assumed they would just freeze her out. But that hadn't happened. She'd gotten letters from both Katara and Aang, though none from Toph, but that was to be expected. And now Zuko had asked her to accompany him on a tour of the Fire Nation. It felt good to know that she could still count them as friends. That they still cared.

“I'm...as well as can be expected, I guess. It's been tough, but I think breaking up with him was the best thing I could have done. Did he tell you why we broke up?”

Zuko looked uncomfortable all of a sudden, but he didn't look away from her. “Yeah. You wanted to get married and start a family and he...”

“Didn't,” she said shortly, taking a sip of the tea the waitress had brought over. She glanced around the cafe and then back at Zuko, who was watching her with an inscrutable expression on his face. “We fought about it a lot. I thought I could change his mind, he thought he could change mine. In the end, I just realized that we wanted two very different things out of life and that neither of us should have to compromise. He made it clear that he didn't want to marry me. So that was that.”

Zuko licked his lips and then hesitantly reached out, taking her hand and squeezing it. “Sokka's my good friend, but honestly... He's an idiot for letting you go. If I were him, I would have married you years ago. It's his loss.”

She felt warmth rush through her from head to toe, and that aching hollowness in her chest seemed to expand and capture all of the nerves and hormones in her body. She met Zuko's gaze across the table and squeezed his hand.

“Thank you,” she said, a soft smile crossing her lips. Her heart beat out of control. “So, what about you? Seeing anyone?”

_Did I just ask that?_

Zuko pulled a lopsided grin. “Well, if I were, I doubt she'd be very happy that I'm about to go on a four-month long vacation with a beautiful woman.”

She blushed. She couldn't help it.

Something was happening here. Something she hadn't anticipated at all. The easy friendship she had always shared with Zuko had taken on a completely different turn, and they'd only been back together for a few minutes. It had happened the moment she'd gotten off the ship, and seen him watching her from the crowd. The way he'd looked at her. The way he was looking at her right now...

It made her whole body flush, a shocking rush of desire racing through her. She realized with a start that she liked the way he was looking at her. She liked having his eye on her. More than liked it.

_Is he flirting with me?_

The thought flitted across her mind as she stared into his eyes. She shoved it away a moment later. That thought scared her, but not as much as the reaction she was having to him, and the fact that she was fairly sure she was flirting right back. The whole thing made her head spin.

“So what brought this little adventure on?”

Zuko shrugged and then glanced at his secretary standing just outside the cafe. He still had his nose in the itinerary, making notes.“I haven't had any sort of vacation in five years. Things are peaceful in the Fire Nation right now and I feel like I can afford to take the time off. I _need_ the time off, frankly. I also want to see the Fire Nation for myself. I haven't been able to see as much of it as I'd like. There are whole islands and towns I've never visited before. I think I should see them. I _want_ to see them. I want to be among my people, without all of the guards and protocols.”

“That's understandable. But may I ask you something?”

“Anything,” Zuko said eagerly.

“Why me? Why not bring Ty Lee along? She's head of your security detail now, after all.”

Zuko laughed and sat back in his chair. “You do remember that Ty Lee and I tend to drive each other crazy if we're together for too long, right? We wouldn't make it a week.”

She stopped, remembering a dozen different arguments between them. Dour and broody Zuko had often clashed with the ever-upbeat and bouncy Ty Lee. Friends though they were, they were both two very different people.

“Hmm. I see your point. But why not any of the other girls?”

“To be honest, when I argued the Council down to just one bodyguard, you were the only person I thought of. The Council agreed immediately. They trust you with my safety, as do I. Ty Lee supported my choice, if that helps. I gave the Warriors paid leave for the duration of my trip. They haven't had much time off either and I think they've earned it. I'm just glad you accepted.”

“You didn't think I would?”

He shrugged. “I wasn't sure you'd be very excited by the prospect of spending four months with me.”

“Why would you think that?”

“Well...” he started. “You _did_ resign your post...”

“That had nothing to do with you, though,” she said quickly. “You know that, right?”

“I know that. I know you wanted to spend more time with... _him._..”

“Which was a mistake,” she said sourly and then caught herself. “Sorry.”

“No, it's okay. I can see you're still dealing with the break up.”

“I am,” she said truthfully. “I'm trying not to dwell on it, but it's hard sometimes.”

“I can understand that. How about we just agree not to bring him up at all?”

She saw the sincerity in his gaze and then slowly nodded. “I think I'd like that.”

“Good. I don't want to cause you any pain.” His voice was gentle and earnest.

“I'm not in pain, precisely. Honestly, I've actually been trying to just live for the moment. I haven't been making any plans for the future. I'm just sort of letting things happen, you know? I knew as soon as I got your letter that I was going to accept. I needed to leave Kyoshi for a while.”

“Why?”

She glanced down at her hands. “Sometimes coming home isn't as easy as you'd think. Sometimes I feel like I've outgrown the place. Like I don't belong. I like training the girls, but they have other teachers. They don't really need me.”

“I'm sure that's not true.”

“It feels that way,” she said truthfully, and then took a deep breath. “I sometimes think I made a huge mistake leaving you. I mean...leaving my post. Oh, listen to me! I'm so sorry! I'm getting all maudlin on you again.”

“Don't worry about it,” he said with a kind smile. “I don't mind listening. I've missed talking to you and seeing you everyday. I forgot how easy it is.”

“It's easy, talking to me?”

“It always was. I never said it, but you were a rock, Suki. Even when things were going crazy, I could count on you to be the calm in the storm. I missed your good sense when you left.”

She shot him a cheeky grin. “Well, I always did know how to pull your cute ass out of the fire.”

He opened his mouth to reply, but the waitress came and set their food down in front of them. Zuko thanked her, leaving Suki to duck her head, her face flaming.

_I'm flirting with him. I am totally flirting with Zuko. What am I doing? I just got out of the messiest relationship in existence... I shouldn't be flirting with anyone, let alone Zuko._

And yet.

She tucked into her food, finding that she was famished. It had been a long time since breakfast on the ship that morning, and she'd been too excited to really eat much anyway. The thought of seeing Zuko again had filled her with such a strange, nervous expectation. She hadn't been able to figure out why, but now, sitting across from him, _flirting_ with him, she wondered idly if her subconscious had known something she hadn't.

Zuko's eyes were hot on her and she felt heat rise up the length of her spine, pulling a deep, dark need out of her as easily as she pulled in breath. She smiled at him over the rim of her tea, and he popped a sushi roll into his mouth, his eyebrow quirking a little in her direction.

She opened her mouth to say something—and was stopped by the smack of a thick stack of paper hitting the table. The glasses and dishes danced with the force of it. Suki and Zuko looked up at Zuko's secretary in alarm.

“Sire, I simply cannot see how you're going to attend that flower festival in Akahana _and_ the lava festival in Pi Jong at the same time. I'm going to have to rearrange your whole schedule or I swear you're NOT going!” the man huffed, grabbed a chair from another table and dragged it with a loud scrape to the table. Then he sat down in it with a jarring thud.

Zuko glanced at Suki wearily, rolling his eyes and holding up one finger. “One more day. One more day and we're free.”

“Sire, if I didn't worry about the details you'd wake up dead in a ditch somewhere!” the secretary exclaimed shrilly, his glasses slipping to the end of his nose as he glared at Zuko. Suki stifled her laughter with a mouthful of rice.

“You're right, Bao. I would hate to wake up dead.”

“In a ditch!”

“That would certainly put a damper on my reign,” Zuko deadpanned, catching her gaze. “But I think I can trust Suki here to make sure I come back in one piece.”

“Oh, I have every faith in Captain Suki's skills, your highness. I'm sure she'll take good care of you on your journey.”

Something flashed in Zuko's gaze. Something warm and wanting. Her fingers were tingling again all of a sudden, the ache in her chest taking over her limbs now.

“Oh... I'm sure she will,” Zuko said slowly as Suki bit the inside of her lip.

He was definitely flirting with her.

Zuko was flirting with her.

Suki pushed her hair back behind one ear and tried to remain calm. It didn't work. She tried to ignore the way her body was aching, the way her heart was pounding. That didn't work either.

_I'm going to end up sleeping with him._

The thought was flung into her head without warning. It didn't shock her. Not really. Not when she was pressing her thighs together beneath the table, her hormones going crazy from the heat of his gaze, the tease of his shy smile. The thought of being alone with him... It stirred something in her. Something she hadn't thought, in the midst of her post-break up self-pity, that she would ever feel again. It was potent. Intoxicating.

Maybe she was just tired of being alone. Maybe she'd always been attracted to him. Maybe it was just that she was single and he was single.

It didn't matter. She knew it would only be a matter of time before she willingly tumbled straight into his bed. The question was, when would Zuko pluck up the courage to make a move? She didn't think she had it in her to make the first move, not after everything she'd gone through with Sokka. She wasn't interested in putting herself out there, and she definitely wasn't ready for a relationship.

She doubted that was what Zuko wanted though, and so long as they kept it casual, she found that she was more than willing to entertain the notion of sleeping with him. The very thought sparked a fire in her blood.

She wanted him.

Zuko glanced at her and she saw the heat beneath his skin, his gaze flicking to her lips.

He wanted her too.

_Then I'm yours if you want me, Zuko._

She hoped he didn't take too long to figure that out.

* * *

 

The rest of the afternoon and evening passed in a flurry of activity, most of it irritating and unnecessary in Zuko's opinion. His secretary seemed to think he had never traveled before and therefore had no idea how to take care of himself without a flurry of servants around. Maybe he was just doing his job, but it put Zuko's teeth on edge. He couldn't wait to be rid of him so that he could be alone with Suki.

_Suki._

Even thinking about her made his heart race. All day long he'd found it hard to keep his eyes off of her. Even over dinner at their inn, his gaze had ached as it traced the familiar lines of her face. His heart ached, his body tight with need as he'd tried, and failed, to stop flirting with her. It hadn't worked, of course.

He wanted her.

He'd known it the moment she'd stepped off of the boat.

If given half a signal from her he knew he'd take it. Instantly and without regret. He'd never felt more sure of anything in his life.

But did she feel this new thing between them too, or was it just him? He was fairly certain she had been flirting with him all day, but what if he'd just been reading into it what he'd wanted? What if he made a move and she was horrified?

He didn't think he could stand it.

He glanced at her around his secretary's intrusive form, wishing the little man would go away already. He saw Suki yawn, but try to cover it. He took that as his cue, clapping a heavy on on Bao's shoulder to stop his boring tirade about wild animals to be wary of on the road.

“I think it's time to turn in if Suki and I are going to get an early start tomorrow.”

Bao blinked at him from behind his glasses and then sighed dramatically. “You have your copy of the itinerary?”

“Both of them.”

“And you're sure you know what to do?”

“I think I can handle it.”

“Everything has been arranged. All you have to do is follow the itinerary.”

“Yes, I know. Goodnight, Bao. I'll see you in the morning before we leave?”

“Of course... I...”

But he pushed Bao toward the stairs, dismissing him with a shove. “In the morning, all right?”

His secretary grumbled and disappeared up the stairs of the inn. Zuko gestured for the guards to follow and they bowed out of the room, leaving the two of them alone for the first time. He swallowed hard, turning his head in time to see Suki stretching like a cat in front of the hearth.

His eyes widened, watching her uncurl in her chair. His hands twitched, like he might reach for her at any moment.

“Thanks for shutting him up,” Suki said, relaxing again. “I was about to gag him with his own slipper.”

“You and me both,” he said darkly. “I'll be glad to be rid of him.”

“It'll be just the two of us tomorrow.”

He met her gaze for a long moment, thinking things he shouldn't have been thinking. He bit down on his tongue to stop himself from saying anything he might regret. Instead, he said, “We should probably turn in.”

She nodded and together they walked upstairs toward the rooms they'd rented.

“I'll see you in the morning,” Suki said, walking toward the door of her room.

“Bright and early. Sleep well,” he called to her.

Suki glanced over her shoulder at him, pausing in the open doorway of her room as she flashed him a warm, inviting smile.

“I'll try. Come and get me if you want me,” she drawled and then walked into her room and closed the door, leaving him standing the hallway with a dry mouth and an aching everything else. His pulse was galloping, her scent tantalizing his senses.

Had she meant that the way he'd taken it? Or was his sex-soaked brain just torturing him? It was hard to tell. He stared at her closed door, wishing he had the balls to charge over there and knock on it.

And what would he do if she answered? Stumble all over himself most likely. What he really wanted to do was pull her into his arms and kiss her until neither of them could breathe.

He hit the wall with the curl of his fist, frustration tearing through him. He'd never been so turned on in his life and she hadn't even _done_ anything.

_How in the world am I going to travel with her when all I want to do is throw myself at her feet? I can't act normal around her. I want her, dammit._

There was another voice inside of his head too, something smaller and easier to ignore. Something that told him what he was feeling wasn't just attraction, though there was plenty of that. It was something else, something deeper, something he suspected may have been there a long time, just waiting to be uncovered.

He pushed that discovery aside though. He'd deal with that later. Right now he just needed to work on acting normal around her. He was going to have to pull back his flirtation. She was still getting over Sokka. She probably wasn't looking for any sort of relationship right now.

Zuko scrubbed a hand down his face and then pushed himself off of the wall. He went into his room and closed the door, trying not to linger on thoughts of her in the next room. Of the supple smoothness of her skin, and the fall of her hair and the soft plush of her lips...

_Come and get me if you want me._

“I'm in trouble,” he mumbled to the empty room, sinking down onto his bed, his head in his hands. It was going to be a long vacation.

_(end)_


End file.
